GREENVILLE, IL - The Principia Track & Field teams traveled to Greenville University for the SLIAC Championship Meet on Friday and Saturday to complete the 2022 outdoor season. The forecast going into the meet looked ominous, but the meet was held as scheduled despite some heavy rain at the end of the day on Friday and strong winds throughout the meet. By the end of the day on Saturday, the top three teams were the same for both men and women. Greenville swept both titles in dominating fashion, with Webster taking runner-up, and the Principia men and women each finishing third out of the seven competing teams.
Many of the field events were held on Friday afternoon. Abby Holt started the meet strong for the women on Friday, winning the pole vault and finishing third in the high jump. For the men, freshmen Tobin Blair and Jacob Warrick took first and second in the javelin, scoring 18 out of Principia's total 75 points for the men. Blair's debut performance at the conference championship earned him the SLIAC Men's Newcomer of the Year award. He also competed in the steeplechase on Saturday, finishing sixth.
On Saturday, Principia got three individual wins from three seniors on the men's team. Corey Carter took first place in the 200 meter dash (21.57), Mitchell Gill finished first in the 400 meter dash (49.77), and Joshua Aleman won the 400-meter hurdles (59.07). Carter also took third in the 100, while Gill finished third in the 200. In the final race of the day, the men's 4x400 relay team of Carter, Gill, Aleman, and Dillon Hussey finished second behind Greenville by two seconds. Several other top-6 finishes earned the men's team enough points to finish third place, narrowly defeating Westminster (team scores below).
After Abby Holt started off the scoring for the Principia women on Friday, she had to withdraw from the high jump and 400 on Saturday with an illness. Emme Schaefer finished fourth in a tactical 1500 race because of the heavy winds, earning important points for the Panthers. Laura Mayo and Geena Richards finished second and third in the 3000 meter steeplechase, earning All-Conference honors and the additional team points to edge Fontbonne for Principia's third-place team finish (team points below).
FULL MEET RESULTS
Up Next: This weekend's conference meet concludes the regular season for the most of the Track & Field team. A few athletes may compete in last chance meets next week at Monmouth or the week after at North Central. Corey Carter is currently in position to qualify for the NCAA National Championship at the end of May, as he currently sits third in Division III for the 200 meters and 16th for the 100 meters. More information will be released in the coming weeks regarding additional meets and Nationals.
SLIAC Championship team scores:
WOMEN
1) Greenville - 341
2) Webster - 91
3) Principia - 37
4) Fontbonne - 32
5) Westminster - 26
6) Spalding - 10
7) Eureka - 3
MEN
1) Greenville - 345
2) Webster - 88
3) Principia - 75
4) Westminster - 70
5) Spalding - 25
6) Fontbonne - 2
7) Eureka - 0
